My wife and I have the opportunity to be in Vienna for a conference and we wanted to take a day trip to Salzburg and/or to Berchtesgaden and see Lake Konigssee. What would be the best place to go and see and is there a possibility to be able to see both?

Thanks.

Ion- Half (or more) of your "day" will be spent traveling if you try Vienna-Salzburg, much less throwing in Lake Konigsee. Vienna has plenty to do so your time is not wasted traveling. If possible, can extend your visit a few days? Then Salzburg for 2 days and Berchtesgaden for 1 day would be doable. Remember though that you will spend almost 1/2 day traveling each direction from Vienna to Salzburg. The train is probably the fastest way - You could return to Vienna on a night train to conserve a little more time for sightseeing in Salzburg. Have a good time and don't try to cram too much into a short time-

You can easily reach Salzburg in less than 3 hours by train. It does not take" half of your day" For example , leave Vienna Westbahnhof at 7:00 AM and arrive in Salzburg at 9:48 AM. This gives you an entire day to explore . Return later that evening. Try www.oebb.at( the Austrian railroad )website for schedules.
Many things to see and do in the city of Salzburg. Most within walking distance of the rail station. I would suggest limiting the day to the city.
Depending on class of travel and advance purchase of tickets, the cost is less than 75 euros.
There is frequent service on this major rail line to enable you to pick your later evening return.
The visit is worth the time and you can sleep on the train if tired.

Vienna has plenty to offer, otherwise I would go for Salzberg....

You would have to be a "Roadrunner" to even attempt to travel from Vienna and "see" the lake and both towns in one day. You could make a long day of it and visit Salzburg.

Here's some things we did over a two day period:


Take Old Town Orientation Walk

Tour Salzburg Cathedral

Tour Residenz State Rooms and Galleries

See Mozart?s Birthplace (Geburthaus)

Shop on Getreidegasse

People Watch at a Café on Mozartplatz

Explore St. Peter?s Church, cemetery and catacombs

Watch Glockenspiel chime

Tour Hohensalzburg Fortress

Take ?Hills Are Alive? Walk (Monchsberg approach Hohensalzburg Castle)

Use elevator from A.Neumayrplatz (Ggstattengasse 13) to forested ridge that has 15th Century fortifications and several view points back on Salzburg. Stay on the high paved paths or you will have to climb back to the castle. Consider a break at view terrace at Gran Café Winkler.

Explore Steingasse Street

Pretty medieval street with oldest nunnery (Sound of Music) and church where Herr von Trapp wedding (SOM) took place. Great castle views half way up street. Easy to combine with Kapuzinerburg walk

Visit Kapuzinerberg:Forest

Landscaped park with views to Salzburg. Cross Staatsbrucke spanning the Salzach to right bank, continue walking two mins to Steingasse, and then cut right to walk through the Steintor (gate to medieval walls), then climb adjoining stone stairway and follow signs to Kapuzinerberg.

Stroll Mirabell Gardens: Has marble statues and arbor from Sound of Music.

Wander St. Sebastion Cemetery (Friedhoh St. Sebastian): Grand Baroque/Italian statues and old tombs of Salzburg royalty. Close to our hotel on Linzergasse which is a good shopping street.

Riverside Bike Ride: Riverbanks have good views of Salzburg lit up at night.

I've never been to any of these places but have been doing some research on Salzburg and Berchtesgaden. Trains to Berchtesgaden from Munich seem to pass through Salzburg anyway. So you may want to investigate if that's the case for Vienna. If so, it'd be natural to visit both places.

Check out this site for Berchtesgaden:
http://www.berchtesgadener-land.com/...1A71EAC9BC5CAF

It was probably recommended by someone in the archives.

In particular, also check out
http://www.eagles-nest-tours.com

I believe that they do the mini-van tours of Eagle's Nest that's much touted in the archives.

Thanks so much to all of you for your comments. We are both excited about this trip (first time to Europe for myself and the second time for my wife).

What do you plan to do and see in Vienna?

Ion...going also for a conference...which one? (if you can say)

ChatNoir
We haven't quite decided what we would like to do in Vienna. We have a tourist book and have been going through it. We are planning on seeing a concert one of the nights and we hope to see Schonbrunn, Hofburg, etc.

Andree
This is for the ASME IGTI Conference

Here's what we did in three long summer days:

Orientation ride on Tram around Ring

Kunsthistorisches Museum

Graben Street

St. Peter?s Church ( Baroque)

Opera house

Naschmarkt

Hofburg

Kisergruft

Café Hawelka

Café Central

St. Stephans Cathedral

Stadtpark (Strauss Statue & Kursalon)

Schonbrunn Palace/Gardens/Gloriette Pavilion

Freyung Passage (covered shopping arcade)

Kohlmarkt

Kahlenburg

Grinzing

House of Music

Belvedere Palace

Prater

Melk

Mariahilfer Strasse

Spitllberggasse/Schrankgasse

Karlskirche

Ion...not the same one! Have a good time !